


Happily Ever After

by seraphina_snape



Series: gameofcards writings [13]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Cliche, First Kiss, M/M, True Love's Kiss, fuck the LAX bros, magic quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 12:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12935277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape
Summary: "I'm not gonna lie," the knight said. "I was kind of expecting a princess?"Derek reminded himself to keep cool and suppressed the snort he wanted to let out. "Isn't that just typical. A locked tower automatically means a princess in need of rescue, does it? Welcome to this century, where towers are for everyone." He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you read the signs? No Questing. Doesn't get much clearer than that."





	Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a challenge @ gameofcards (using the words _brilliant, leather, leisure_ ). 
> 
> This obviously borrows a few concepts from fairy tales (most obvious being Rapunzel), featuring Nursey as The Prince ~~ss~~ In The Tower and Dex as The Knight In Shining Armor. Enjoy!

The window to his tower opened with a creak, the hinges rusty and half-stuck with disuse. 

Derek jerked his head up in surprise and then cursed quietly when his quill dripped ink on his parchment, the royal blue drops obscuring some of his brilliant words.

"Now I'll have to start over," he muttered. He took a breath, held it for a second and then slowly let it out. "It's fine, it's chill, whatever, I have time."

He did, in fact, have nothing but time, living this life of enforced leisure in his gilded tower. 

"You're… not what I expected."

 _Right,_ Derek reminded himself. _There was someone at the window. A hundred and fourteen feet above the ground. Crazy knights._

"It's the hair, right?" Derek said, smoothing a hand over his long tresses. "I'm not gonna tell you how much time I spend on it each day, but it's even more than you'd expect." He turned around in his chair and faced the strange knight at the window.

The knight was flushed, his pale skin turning an unattractive shade of deep pink. His eyes were a deep amber color, glinting in the light of the setting sun. They complemented his red hair quite nicely.

"Like a beacon of fire in the night," Derek murmured. He needed to jot that down. Quickly, he pulled a fresh roll of parchment from the box at his side and started scribbling. "Liquid sunlight," he muttered. "Hmm, eyes of fire." He ignored the sounds of the knight, the clank of his armor and sword, and heavy thump as his boots landed on the floorboards in the tower. 

"What are you writing?" 

Derek yelped and slammed his blotter down on the poem. "It's, uh, uncool to just look," he said when he'd recovered some decorum. "Besides, it's not finished. I don't show unfinished work." 

The knight raised an eyebrow. 

"Too much of it changes in editing," Derek added.

The knight was about as tall as Derek, and he wore a suit of armor that had seen better days. Parts of it seemed to be missing, too, but it was nicely polished, glinting a little in the last rays of sunlight coming in through the window. The red sigil on the breastplate – some kind of animal with large claws and too many legs – clashed horribly with his hair though. 

The knight ducked his head and ran a hand over his head. Hesmiled and Derek forgot what he was thinking. 

He shivered. 

"I'm not gonna lie," the knight said. "I was kind of expecting a princess?"

Derek reminded himself to keep cool and suppressed the snort he wanted to let out. "Isn't that just typical. A locked tower automatically means a princess in need of rescue, does it? Welcome to this century, where towers are for everyone." He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you read the signs? No Questing. Doesn't get much clearer than that."

The knight shot him an annoyed look. "Right. I'm guessing you're not looking for a rescue, then?"

Derek shrugged. It wasn't like life in the tower was _bad_. Just a little boring, maybe. 

"How did you get locked in here anyway?"

"My parents," Derek admitted. "They're, you know, busy, and I'm kind of clumsy? It's as much for my protection as it is for the good of the kingdom while they consolidate peace talks with Laxbronia."

The knight wrinkled his nose. "Honestly, the kingdoms should just unite and flatten Laxbronia. Nothing good ever comes from there."

"Violence is not the answer."

The knight gave him a dubious look. "Sometimes it is, though."

"Right, of course. Why would anyone who expects a princess in any given tower consider war an abhorrence? What was I thinking."

The knight flushed. "Look, I said I wasn't expecting you, okay? Where I'm from, a prince wouldn't be caught dead sitting locked in a tower. And going to war is an honored tradition, especially if it's a war against Laxbronia."

Derek bit his lip. Arguing would just harsh his chill, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually interacted with a human being – his parents had stopped by for his birthday last year, or the year before, maybe. Talking to the knight was _fun_. And it was even more fun to see him flush and get defensive. 

"I bet you still believe that stepmothers are inherently evil."

"What? No!" the knight spluttered, his face turning a shade pinker. "Okay, yes, but I don't know any stepmothers who aren't at least a little murderous."

"Uh-huh." Derek flicked his hair back. "And how many stepmothers do you know?"

The knight tore his gaze away from Derek's hair. His flush was starting to reach the tips of his ears and the collar of the shirt he wore under the chest armor. "Two," he admitted. "But they're both horrible."

"My mother is my stepmother," Derek said, pouring as much judgment into his words as he could while maintaining a placid expression.

The knight raised his eyebrows. "You're locked in a tower! How is she not horrible?"

"I told you it's for protection."

"Right. And how long have you been in here?"

"Since I was… eleven, I think. So nearly seven years." Derek shrugged. "My mother and my mama visit on my birthday." Most years anyway, he doesn't add. "It's the one day they take off from the peace conferences and state visits and other public appearances."

"Wait, your what?"

"My mother and my mama. Queen Carmelia and Queen consort Annamaria."

The knight's frown deepened. "I didn't know you could do that. Princesses marrying each other."

Derek sniffed. "Of course you can, unless you live in a backwards kingdom like Laxbronia."

"Hey," the knight protested half-heartedly. Then he sighed, his eyes looking through Derek. "Must be nice," he said, almost to himself. 

"What?"

"What?" The knight glared at him. "Oh, right. Anyone who expects a princess in a tower can't also be happy about the occasional prince, isn't that right? Tell me, does the hypocrisy help make your hair more shiny?"

Derek blinked. "You think my hair is shiny?"

"What?"

"It's just--I have no mirror, or scissors, or anything sharp, really – it's a health and safety thing – and I do my best but there's only so much you _can_ do when you can't even trim the ends every now and then. Seven years is a long time to go without a haircut."

"You're unbelievable."

Derek cast a look at the open window, a cool breeze hitting his face as he did so. "This is still a rescue, right? You're not backing out now because I'm a prince, are you?"

"No. But you don't really seem to be into the whole rescue thing," the knight said, "and to be honest, I had things I wanted to be doing rather than going on this stupid quest. Didn't you say this was for your own protection?"

Derek waved him off. "Maybe when I was eleven. I'm almost eighteen and now that I think about it, I'm ready to get out."

The knight raised a skeptical eyebrow and Derek huffed, intending to stomp over to the bed to get another shirt. He didn't have a coat, not having any need for one inside his tower, and he doubted the magic box that supplied him with food and other essentials would be able to produce one. Unfortunately, he tripped and tumbled straight into the knight's arms. So much for his Great Show of Non-Clumsiness. 

The knight caught him, the grin on his lips barely hidden. "Yeah, you're so elegant, my prince."

"Shut up," Derek mumbled. His heart sank. "Maybe my mothers are right. Maybe it is too dangerous for me out there."

The knight set him back on his feet and caught his eye. "Look, do you want to get out of this tower?"

"I--yes." He was sick and tired of the same smooth stone walls, the same rug and the same bed and the same desk and the same view out the usually closed window. He wanted to stand on the grass and see the flowers up close again, wanted to sit under a tree and catch the multi-colored leaves as they fell, wanted to pick berries from a bush and stain his fingers and lips red with their juice.

"Great, so let's go." The knight grabbed Derek's hand and started pulling him towards the window. 

Derek reluctantly pulled his hand back. "But--"

The knight turned to face him, standing closer than ever before. "When you tripped just now, what happened?"

"You caught me."

"Exactly. I caught you. And I'll do it again and again and again."

The knight smiled another one of his radiant smiles. It made Derek's knees feel a little shaky.

"You would?" Derek sat down on his bed. "You _do_ know what it means, right, if you rescue someone from a tower?"

The knight nodded. "Oh, I know. That's how one of my older brothers found his wife. But I'm the fourth son and the seventh child of my parents. My oldest two brothers were both betrothed days after their births and my sisters have all been promised to princes from neighboring kingdoms to ensure the alliances will stay strong, but my other brother and I? We don't stand much of a chance at the throne. I'm eleventh in line, after my father, my oldest brother, his brood of kids, my second oldest brother and his brood of kid and my other brother. No king is going to offer his daughter as my bride, which is why our father sent my brother and I on a quest. My brother rescued a princess some months ago, so now it's just me."

Derek pursed his lips. "What makes you think I want to be rescued by a knight who was expecting a princess?"

"I told you! Besides, just because I was expecting a princess in an abstract sort of way doesn't mean I'm not perfectly fine with a prince." He glanced away, his eyes bouncing around the room. "And your hair is really very pretty."

"Thanks." Derek smiled. "I like your eyes."

"Does that mean you really do want to get rescued by me?"

"Only if you don't mind that you'll be my prince consort and not a king of your own right." 

The knight shrugged. "I wasn't going to be king anyway."

"Then I guess there's only one thing left to do." 

"Apart from the climb down, you mean." The knight grinned and stepped back to give himself some room. He took a bow – he had excellent form, not that Derek was a stickler for something like that – and then straightened. "Prince William of Poindexter, from the Kingdom by the Sea." He flashed a smile at Derek. "My family calls me Dex, mostly."

"Dex," Derek repeated. He stood and took his own bow, slightly hampered by the long hair. "Prince Derek of Nurse, Crown Prince of City Kingdom. And aspiring poet."

Dex tugged his soft leather glove off and held out his hand for Derek. His hand was warm and rough and strong. 

Derek took a deep breath. Dex smelled like wood and armor polish and leather, and despite the fact that his armor seemed to consist solely of a breastplate and arm and shin greaves, he looked every inch the dashing knight ready to rescue the princess from the tower. Or, in this case, the prince. 

"If I may?" Dex asked, leaning in a little. 

Derek found he didn't mind the lack of the ritual words – nothing about this rescue was traditional, so he didn't think he needed to insist on it for the final bit before they could climb down: the Kiss.

Many royals though the Kiss of True Love to be a myth, a tale told to children to romanticize arranged marriages and marriage alliances, and to soften the blow of old traditions becoming obsolete in modern times. But when their lips met in a chaste kiss, Derek's heart leaped in his chest and a pleasant warmth spread through his stomach. 

Dex' amber eyes met his when they parted, the wonder and surprise on his face no doubt mirroring the expression on Derek's face. 

"Hey ," Dex whispered. "I'm really glad I found your tower."

Derek smiled and pressed another quick kiss to Dex' lips. "I'm glad, too," he said as his heart fluttered again.

*

Crown Prince Derek of the City Kingdom and Prince (later Prince Consort) William (better known as Dex) of the Kingdom of the Sea got married in a beautiful winter ceremony three months later. Their parents (either set) weren't entirely in favor of the union – Derek's parents thinking the Kingdom by the Sea too uncultured and war-obsessed and Dex' parents thinking the City Kingdom too soft and blinded by their wealth – but the rules of This Sort of Thing were quite clear: the knight rescued the princess (erm, prince), followed by marriage.

Derek and Dex didn't care about their parents misgivings. Derek became a style icon, his almost floor-length hair sparking a trend in hairstyles for decades to come, and eventually, after many long years of learning and observing, was crowned King Derek of City Kingdom. He would go on to be a just and successful ruler.

Dex spent his days exploring his new home (for City Kingdom was vastly different from the Kingdom by the Sea) and eventually settled into his role, standing at Derek's side and catching his husband whenever he stumbled. (He eventually got his war with Laxbronia as well.) 

And they lived happily ever after. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥
> 
> _____
> 
> Now also [on tumblr](http://seraphina-snape.tumblr.com/post/168614838067/happily-ever-after) if you want to like/reblog/whatever.


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